Nov. 22, 2014

South Carolina Game Notes | Promotions | Parking Information

Game Information

Date: Sunday, November 23, 2014 | 2 p.m.
Site: Columbia, S.C.
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Tickets: $7 adult, $4 youth (17 and under)
Broadcast: SEC Network+ (Brad Muller, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, analyst)
Radio: 107.5 The Game (Derek Scott); GamecocksOnline.com
Live Stats:
Series History: SC leads 2-0

South Carolina Notables

• South Carolina is looking for its 21st-straight win at Colonial Life Arena tonight.
• Moving senior forward Aleighsa Welch to the wing for stretches of the game may be slowing her rebounding pace, but it has not impacted her field goal percentage or shot-blocking ability. She is shooting 75.0 percent from the field after finished 14th in the nation in the category last season (57.4) and is blocking 2.5 shots per game.
• Sophomore center Alaina Coates has two double-doubles in as many games this season.
• The Gamecocks’ 99 points against Clemson Thursday night tied the Staley-era record and was the sixth 99-point game in Colonial Life Arena history. The score also generated the most lop-sided victory in the history of that rivalry with South Carolina winning by 58 points.
• South Carolina handed out a Staley-era record tying 25 assists against Clemson Thursday night

Notes

A South Carolina Win Would…

• Be the Gamecocks’ 21st straight at Colonial Life Arena, the longest stretch in facility history.
• Be bring head coach Dawn Staley within four wins of 300 in her career.

By the Numbers
1 Rank for the Gamecocks in 3-point shooting in the SEC, hitting 43.3 percent from behind the arc
1.5 Assist-to-turnover ratio for South Carolina, second-best in the SEC
2 Rank for the Gamecocks in the SEC in average attendance (10,534)
3 Gamecocks ranked among the SEC’s top 15 in field goal percentage – Aleighsa Welch (T-1st, .750), Tiffany Mitchell (T-10th, .556) and Alaina Coates (T-10th, .556)
4 Gamecocks ranked among the SEC’s top 30 scorers – Mitchell (9th, 16.5), Alaina Coates (T-12th, 15.0), Aleighsa Welch (18th, 13.5) and A’ja Wilson (T-25th, 11.0)
4 SEC teams shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field this season, including the Gamecocks
6 Statistics in which junior guard Tiffany Mitchell ranks among the SEC’s top 15 – points (9th, 16.5), field goal percentage (T-10th, .556), assists (6th, 4.5), free throw percentage (5th, .833), 3-pointers made (T-13th, 1.5 per game) and minutes (T-9th, 31.5 per game)
15.5 Gamecocks’ rebounding advantage this season, second-best in the SEC
25 Assists handed out against Clemson, tying the most for the Gamecocks in the Staley era
60 Rebounds needed for senior forward Aleighsa Welch to move into a tie for 10th in career rebounds in school history
76.9 Percent 3-point shooting by the Gamecocks in the second half against Clemson (10-of-13)

San Diego State Series Notes
The Gamecocks have won both previous meetings with the Aztecs. Today’s game is the first of the series in Columbia. South Carolina opened the series with a 58-55 win over San Diego State on the final day of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Nov. 28, 2009. The Aztecs were ranked No. 23 in the nation, becoming the first ranked team the Gamecocks upset in the Dawn Staley era. Last season, the two teams opened this home-and-home series being closed out today. The then-No. 19/14 Gamecocks scored an 88-54 win on Nov. 23, 2013, at Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl. Four Gamecocks scored in double figures, led by Alaina Coates’ 21 behind 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 11-of-15 accuracy from the free throw line. South Carolina shot 52.7 percent from the field but were out-rebounded 31-30.

To Watch SEC Network +
To watch SEC Network +, you must be a customer of one of the following: AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DISH, Google Fiber, Suddenlink, and members of the NCTC, NRTC and NTTC. You can contact your cable/satellite provider and get a username and password which will allow you to access the content on computers, tablets, mobile phones and other consumer devices like Xbox. Reading Day Recognition South Carolina’s Read with the Gamecocks program continues this season with today’s recognition of the first segment’s winners. The 95 elementary schools in that participated for this segment included over 6,000 students read more than 1.4 million pages over the two-week period. The school that turned in the most pages read for this segment was Oak Pointe Elementary in Irmo, S.C., whose students read over 147,000 pages. Individuals who read the most pages in the state were Carolina Elementary’s Emily Grantham and High Hills Elementary’s Jaleah Singleton.

Welch Watch
Already third in school history in career offensive rebounds (347), senior forward Aleighsa Welch looks to mount an attack on other parts of the Gamecock record book before closing out her career. Here are a few of the career benchmarks she has a chance to catch:
Category-Current-Chasing-To Go
Points-1,141-1,160 (20th)-19
FT Made-301 (8th)-319 (7th)-18
FT Att.-477 (6th)-513 (5th)-36
Rebs.-725-785 (10th)-60
Off. Rebs-347 (3rd)-348 (2nd)-1
Def. Rebs.-378-396 (10th)-18
Dbl-Dbls.-19-20 (10th)-1
Blocks-97-99 (10th)-2
Games-102-124 (10th)-22

E-I, E-I No
Senior center Elem Ibiam is making a charge for the school record for career blocks this season after setting the single-season mark with 83 in 2013-14. The Fayetteville, Ga., native is currently tied for fifth with 133 in her career, matching Ilona Burgrova’s (2005-08) total. Next on the list is Demetress Adams (2006-09) with 140, and the career record of 177 set by Lakesha Tolliver (2004-07) is also well within reach.